The US-led coalition fighting ISIL has inflicted serious damage on the extremists, carrying out around 1,000 airstrikes so far in Syria <br />and Iraq.<br /><br /> That is the message from the first meeting of ministers from over 60 countries that Washington has assembled to destroy the militant group.<br /><br /> Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi joined the talks in Brussels. <br /><br /> Their host, US Secretary of State John Kerry, warned the fight could last for years.<br /><br /> “One outcome of this meeting will be a statement that encompasses our message: that we are united and moving ahead on all fronts and that we will engage in this campaign for as long as it takes to prevail,” he said.<br /><br /> Backed by the coalition, the Iraqi army, Sunni tribal fighters and Kurdish forces have recovered some of the ground the jihadists won in large territorial advances last summer.<br /><br /> But the battle is also on the humanitarian front – with those who have fled the fighting ,leaving everything behind – in desperate need of help.<br /><br /> The talks were held at NATO headquarters but Kerry stressed it was not a NATO event.<br /><br /> He praised the role of Arab states in the fight against the group calling itself Islamic State. Apart from Iraq, the meeting included representatives from Kuwait, Bahrain and Morocco.
